The air inside the great chamber was thick with the scent of ancient parchment and a cold, lingering incense that seemed to cling to the stone walls. It was a vast, circular room, dominated by a table of polished obsidian that mirrored the dim, flickering light of the torches placed at regular intervals along the perimeter. Around this table sat several elderly men, their bodies draped in loose, flowing robes of a fabric so fine it seemed to shimmer like liquid shadow. Behind each elder stood two middle-aged attendants, statuesque and silent, their eyes forward and their breathing so controlled they might have been made of marble themselves.

  For a long time, the only sound was the crackle of the torches. Then, the silence was broken.

  “One of the higher beings has spoken.”

  The voice belonged to the man at the head of the table. It was an authoritarian sound, heavy with the weight of centuries and the absolute certainty of his position. As he spoke, the other elders shifted, their robes rustling like dry leaves. They turned toward him with a practiced, ritualistic focus, waiting for the revelation they knew was coming. The speaker paused, looking around at each of his peers, straightening his posture as if the news he carried required a physical adjustment to bear.

  “A new seed has been sent to the world.”

  “OHHH!”

  The reaction was immediate. A collective gasp, a sharp intake of breath, and a series of wide-eyed looks exchanged across the obsidian surface. To these men, the arrival of a "seed" was a cosmic event of the highest order. It was a disruption of the status quo, a pebble dropped into a still pond that would inevitably send ripples—or tsunamis—across the surface of the world.

  “As you already know,” the man continued, his voice rising slightly to settle the sudden murmur of excitement, “whenever a seed arrives in our world, changes follow. Some are small, barely a flicker in the records of history. Others bring chaos, tearing down kingdoms and reordering the very laws of magic. Some develop people and nations to a higher level; others burn them to ash. Whether this new arrival is a blessing or a curse for our world remains unknown. But one thing is certain: they are special. They possess the power to change things in a way no commoner or noble ever could.”

  He leaned forward, the shadows cast by his brow making his eyes look like deep pits of fire.

  “The problem is that the higher being who informed me of this arrival was... specific. They said that the one who comes this time is the agent of the Troublesome One. They even used their accumulated influence—influence they had not touched in eons—to secure this placement. I cannot completely understand what a higher being means by ‘troublesome’ in this context, but the implication is clear.”

  He stopped again, letting the gravity of his words sink in. The attendants behind the elders remained motionless, but the air in the room seemed to grow colder.

  “We have to prepare for the worst. As you know, we are forbidden to actively meddle with seeds. It is an ancient law. We cannot interfere with their business indirectly unless they are the ones who come to us first. This is the burden of our position, for our very strength is drawn from the higher beings themselves. To defy the rule of the higher beings is to defy the source of our own power.”

  Some of the elders nodded in somber agreement, their faces masks of religious contentment. Others looked bitter, their fingers twitching against the obsidian table as they thought of the untapped potential—and the potential threat—now wandering their world.

  “This is also our opportunity,” the headmaster stated, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial low. “We must do our best to impress this new seed if they cross our path. We must win them over to our side. And if that is not possible, we must at least ensure that we do not damage our foundations in the process of their growth. Be careful, my friends. This one... this one will be a big wave.”

  “Yes, headmaster!”

  The reply was a unison chant, a vocal contract of obedience. A dozen seconds passed in respectful silence before the elders began to rise, filing out of the hall with the practiced grace of their order. Soon, only the headmaster and his two silent attendants remained in the flickering light. He turned his head slightly, speaking in a voice that was barely more than a growl.

  “Inform the seeds already on our side that a new one has arrived. Tell them to make sure they do not agitate this one. It will take time to find them, but we must keep our ears open in every nation where we hold influence. Find him. Watch him. But do not touch him.”

  “Yes, headmaster!”

  In a completely different world, or perhaps just a different corner of existence, there was a normal gaming room. It was the kind of space that felt lived-in and comfortable, filled with the hum of electronics. There was a computer desktop with multiple monitors, an ergonomic gaming chair, and bookcases lining the walls. On the right side, the shelves were packed with light novels, their spines colorful and varied; on the left side, another bookcase held a vast collection of comics. A bed sat neatly at the back of the room. At the moment, the space was empty, the only light coming from the idle glow of the monitors.

  “Click. Creak. Thud.”

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  The sound of a key turning in the lock preceded the door opening. A man entered and closed the door behind him with a sharp creak and a final thud. He had dark purple hair that peeked out from beneath the hood of his sweater. He was dressed in sleek, comfortable pajamas and a hooded sweater, the hood pulled low over his head.

  He headed toward the gaming chair as soon as he entered the room, his movements practiced and casual. He placed a drink and various junk foods he had brought with him on the desk and settled into the chair.

  With a few clicks, the man opened a video on the monitor and then immediately paused it. He seemed to be preparing himself, wanting to watch the footage while he enjoyed his snacks. He opened one of the bags of chips, the crinkle of the plastic loud in the quiet room, and popped the top of a cola. Then, he resumed the video.

  After taking a bite of one of the chips, he smirked a little. A small, subtle expression of satisfaction crossed his face. To anyone who didn't know better, they would think he was simply happy about the chips he was eating, or that the junk food was particularly delicious today.

  Actually, it was hard to read his expression at all. Even the smirk he had just expressed was fleeting and disappeared almost as soon as it arrived. It wasn't because he was naturally expressionless; it was because his face was almost entirely obscured under the shadow of his hood and that dark purple hair.

  His face looked like he had no face at all, a shifting void of features, yet one could feel that it was changing with every emotion he felt while watching the screen. It was a subtle thing, but if someone looked carefully, they could differentiate the shift in his mood.

  The man’s emotions, and the smirk he had shown just now, were not for the chips or the drink. He was enjoying what he was watching so much.

  His facial expressions changed from time to time, shifting depending on what happened to the main character of the video. The man in the video was always doing something interesting. The viewer watched as he went to the forest, sometimes with others and sometimes alone, to hunt. He watched him interact with the people in the settlement, or saw him staring into space, pondering as if he were thinking about something of monumental importance.

  The video showed him with a young girl fanning around him all the time. The man in the video seemed like he was trying to stay away from the girl, yet he was also clearly enjoying her company at the same time.

  The man in the video was a point of immense interest to the purple-haired mysterious man. He watched even the most monotone, quiet moments of the video with great interest. When the man in the video entered a dangerous situation, like facing off against a lethal monster, the mysterious viewer would become excited immediately, leaning forward in his chair.

  The clearest emotion the mysterious man showed was when the man in the video managed to overcome a crisis and leave with his trophies. He would be happy whenever the man in the video defeated a foe and collected the precious parts of the prey. He even enjoyed watching the man get money after selling those parts to a merchant.

  When the man in the video had a good night with the young girl, the mysterious man would look at the monitor with a satisfied expression, a small nod of approval. And, when the man left the place he was staying, separating from the people he had been with, the mysterious man would look somber.

  The video continued, showing the road. He watched as the man in the video fought with bandits with an excitement that resembled a child trying out a brand-new toy. He watched him delve into a dark tunnel to hunt monsters for days on end, facing stronger and stronger enemies as he grew in power throughout the process.

  The mysterious man watched all of these scenes, and it was as if he were putting himself in the man’s shoes. He would become excited, sad, worried, or happy along with him. Even though the events in the video would take days to actually happen in real time, the viewer watched them all before he had even finished his bag of chips and his cola.

  When the man in the video saved enough money and went to buy a slave as his companion, the mysterious man looked curious, his head tilting slightly as he wondered how their relationship would turn out.

  He watched as the slave became stronger with the man’s help. They delved deeper into the dark tunnel together. The man had been fighting monsters alone before, but he was with his slave this time. Together, they defeated monsters that were much bigger than themselves.

  The video showed the man deciding to go to another city, and he even became friends with other people on the journey. But then, he faced a tragedy on the way. All of the people in the same caravan with him died while fighting against bandits, including his slave.

  The mysterious man became sad along with the man in the video during those scenes. He watched with great interest, as if waiting with bated breath to see what he would do next to escape such a gloomy, tragic lifestyle.

  As if answering the mysterious man’s unspoken request, the man in the video got involved with a problematic noble and had to escape from the city. He even ended up with a bounty and a warrant on his head.

  Despite him being in such a big predicament, the mysterious man seemed to be excited and having fun. It was hard to tell if he loved seeing the man in the video suffering, or if he was just in love with the sheer thrill of the narrative.

  He watched as the man in the video tried to avoid getting caught, but eventually had to fight against many villagers alone. He watched him let go of everything, seemingly losing his sanity in the heat of the fight as he massacred the people around him without discrimination.

  After just a bit of time, the video showed other pursuers showing up, and the man in the video had to deal with them too. All of these developments made the mysterious man excited and worried at the same time. He wanted to have fun watching the drama, but he clearly cared about the man in the video as well.

  When the man in the video finished his business at the place filled with blood and corpses, he left for a new journey. The mysterious man even enjoyed the loot check at the end of the video. He watched closely, making sure not to miss a single coin count, the new jobs the man acquired, and the new items he had collected that he might be using in the future.

  After the man in the video set out for his new destination, the video ended. The final scene faded to black with the crisp sound of the mysterious man eating the last of the chips in the bag. He looked at the dark monitor, his own silhouette reflected in the glass, while he chewed the remaining chips in his mouth.

  “Gulp.”

  He gulped down the chips with the last sip of cola from the bottle and smiled with a deep sense of satisfaction.

  “I can’t wait to see what will happen afterward. Oh, Han. Please don’t disappoint me.”

  He said it aloud, his voice sounding deep and echoing in the quiet room.

  [Edited]

  Hello, dear readers.

  Book 1 has come to an end. Book 2 has been planned to start to be released on Royal Road and Scrible Hub on October 13, chapter by chapter, just like before.

  As for the paid members of Patreon, they will be able to read 5 chapters ahead as the knight tier, just like before. In addition, the hero tier members will be able to read up to 12 chapters ahead of time.

  I thank you for reading my book up till now. Please continue to motivate me as you keep reading my work, even if it has a lot of flaws.

  I especially thank those who go as far as becoming paid members.

  If you came to this far, you can leave a review for a thank. I appreciate.